Small Business Report Now Available

Download a .pdf copy of the Small Businesses Report.

Small businesses drive our economy and communities, but how important is information tech to them? The City of Seattle has just released the results of a survey looking at the needs and uses of information technology by small businesses. Results from 350 surveys show that most small businesses believe IT has improved their productivity and revenues, but this conclusion was not universal. Only 10 percent have a technology plan and just over half have a web site to market their services. The research also found some significant differences in adoption and use based on ethnicity, revenues, years in business and location. Of course, there's much more.

This report is part of a larger project of the City of Seattle called the Information Technology Indicators Project. To create and administer the survey, the City of Seattle's Department of Information Technology partnered with Community Capital Development (CCD), a not-for-profit consortium that provides small business assistance and loans in Seattle.

These results add to the City's Information Technology Indicators Project a comprehensive set of indicators developed to track the positive and negative impacts of technology on the region over time. Email a request for a free copy or download it from the community technology web site.

These results are already being used by CCD to guide their training programs. The results will help the City make decisions about how best to assist small businesses, so that they remain a vibrant part of the economy. We believe that this data also serves as an excellent resource for small businesses and those working with small businesses, such as local chambers of commerce, business assistance organizations, neighborhood planners, and community development corporations. It should spark discussion about the role that information technology plays in serving the business needs of our community.

To order a free print copy, make a request by email, call (206) 386-0600, or write City of Seattle, Department of Information Technology, Community Technology, Key Tower, 700 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2700, Seattle, Washington 98104, USA.